Car pusher



3 Sheets-Sheet l f7; flea/4 I. M. ABRAM CAR PUSI-IER Filed A1122. 1.- 1922 Deco 25, 1923.

Dec. 25 1923.

l. M. ABRAM CAR PUS'HER Filed A1122. 1. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ahvow foi Patented Dec. 25, 1923.

UNHTEE hiidtzi P TEN T @F i ifi a IRA I'M. ABRAM, OFDUGGER, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-FOURTH TO CLAIRE THOMSON,

OF FABMEBSBURG, INDIANA.

CAR PUSHER.

Application filed August 1, 1922. Serial No. 579,051.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA M. ABRAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dugger, in the county of Sullivan and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Pushers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved car pusher and oneobject of the invention is to provide a device which will be used for imparting movement to cars which are standing upon a track, the device being provided with an improved frame construction and an improved lever and also provided with improved rail gripping jaws and with an improved type of wheel-engaging shoe.

Anotherobject of the invention is toso construct the rail-engaging jaws that when the device is moved to lift the frame, the jaws may be moved to an inoperative ,position and when the lever is swung downwardly in an operative direction, the jaws may be brought into close gripping engagement with the tread portion of the rail and the device thus prevented from having any tendency to move longitudinally of the rail.

Another object of the invention is to so mount the lever and wheel-engaging shoe that when the lever is swung downwardly in the operative direction, the shoe may be tilted and thus brought into close contact with the wheel so that the wheel engaged by the shoe may be given rotary movement to start a freight car rolling along a track.

Another object of the invention is to so construct this pusher that when in use, it may be operated by simply swinging the actuating handle or lever, downwardswinging movement of the lever handle causing the shoe to be moved to rotate the wheel and thus impart movement to the car, and upward movement of the lever handle causing the device to be moved longitudinally of the track into proper operative relation to the car wheel.

Another object of the invention is to so construct this car pusher that the housing with which the lever handle is pivotally connected, may be loosely mounted for sliding vertically upon the frame with which the rail gripping jaws arepivotally connected, this housing being provided withabutm'ent rollers for engaging the upper end *po'rtions of the jaws and moving the jaws to an open or a closed position according to th'e direction in which the housing is moved. lN hen the handle moves upwardly, the hous- 1ng is also moved upwardlyto release the jaws and permit movement of the device'to an operative position with respect t'o the'car wheel, and when the handle is swung downwardly to impart pushing movement to the wheel engaging shoe, the jaws are brought into tight gripping engagement with the rails thus preventing the device from moving out of the proper position upon the rails.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device formed from a plurality of parts which will be firmly held together but may be readily taken apart in order to re place any worn or broken parts.

. This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view showing the device in side elevation and shown as it would appear when imparting movement to a car.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. I show-' ing the lever handle swung upwardly and ready for the next pushing movement.

,Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the device when in the position shown in Fig. 2.

Figure 4: is a top plan view of the improved device.

Figure 5 is asectionalview taken along the line 55 of Fig, 1.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 66 of Fig. 2.

This car pusher is to be used in connection with a rail R and will engage the wheels W of a carso that the wheels can be caused to rotate forwardly and thus the car caused to move alongthe track. The jaws l which are to firmly 'grip the tread portionof the rail and are pivotally connected with hearing arms 2 which extend transversely of the base-portion or bar 3 of a frame which forms the body portion of the car pusher. This bar 3 is provided at its forward and rear ends with rollers 4 which rest upon the tread of the rail so that the device can be easily moved along the rail as the car is and these shanks extend between the forward and rear plates 6 and 7 which form a housing movable vertically. These plates are connected by bolts 8 and between the plates there has been provided spacing rollers to retain the plates in the desired spaced relation whenthe securing nuts are tightened. Rollers 9 are mounted on certain of these spacing sleeves to engage the curved shanks of the jaws and act to impart swinging movement to them when the device is in use. It should be further noted that cleats 10 are mounted upon the outer end portions of certain of these bolts 8 to engage the arms of the fork 5 and thus guide the vertical movement of the housing. A bearing bracket 11 is carried by the bolts 8' between the forward and rear plates of the housing and is provided with depending arms 11 between which the lever handle 12 is pivotally mounted by means of a pin 13. This lever handle 12 extends .rearwardly through a slot 1 1 in the, rear plate 7 of the housing and between the arms of the fork 5 and has its forward end portion extending through a slot 15 formed in the forward plate 6 of the housing. It will thus be'seen that this lever can be rocked upon the pivot 13. At theforward end of the lever, there is provided a hook 16 for engaging the upper end of an abutment plate or strip 17 which is adjustably carried by a standard 18 through the medium of a bolt 19 which passes through. aslot formed in the standard. "When the :lever is swung upwardly, this hook 16 engages the strip 17 thereby providing afulcrum so that the housing will be moved upwardly. As the housing moves upwardly, the shanks of the'jaws will be moved toward each otherand the jaws .will be moved to a releasing position. At their free ends, these shanks havebeenprovided with spurs 20 to engage the bolts 8 at the sides of the housing and limit upward move ment of the housing. Therefore, the housing cannot move upwardly a sufficient distance to move out of proper engagement with the shanks of the jaws. lVith the lever handle swung upwardly to the position shown. in Fig. 2, the device can be easily moved along the rail into proper position for :the next pushing stroke. The wheelengaging shoe 21 is curved longitudinally so as to fit in close contact with the wheel and has .its lower end portion pivotally mounted between the forward end portions of links 22 which extend in diverging relation and have their rear. ends pivotally connected with hearing ears 23 which extend outand forwardly, thereby applying a turning movement to the wheel. 7

When this device is in use, it will be placed upon a rail adjacent one of the wheels of the car to be moved and with the lever handle swung upwardly to lift the housing and thus swing the jaws out of an operative position, pressure will be applied to bring the lower end of the shoe'into engagement with the car wheel. Thelever handle can then be swung downwardly and in so doing, the jaws will be brought into tight gripping engagement with the rail and the shoe will be swung into engagement with the wheel of the car. Continued downward pressure will impart upward movement to the shoe and as the shoe moves upwardly, with its upper end portion swinging forwardly as it moves upwardly, rotary movement will be imparted to the car wheel. After the lever handle has been swung downwardly its full extent, it will again be swung upwardly and in so doing the shoe will have its upper end'portion swung away from the car wheel and as the hook engages the prop 17 the housing will be moved upwardly to swing the jaws out of gripping engagement with the rail. The frame or carriage portion of this device can then move forwardly under the action of the pressure exerted when. swinging the lever handle upwardly so that the device follows the car and is moved into the proper position for the shoe to properly engage the car wheel when the handle is again swung downwardly. It will therefore be evident that the device will operate very efliciently since it will be firmly held in engagement with the rail and the shoe brought into very good engagement with the wheel while the handle is moving downwardly and the aws will be released from the rail and the device moved forwardly upon the rollers 4' while the lever handle is swinging upwardly. When it is desired to take the device apart to repair or replace any portions, it is simply necessary to remove the bolts which act as fasteners, and the device can be easily and quickly taken apart and either repaired or new pieces supplied and the device then put together again.

I claim:

1. A car pusher comprising a carriage, rail engaging jaws pivoted to the carriage and having upwardly extending shank portions, a housing slidable vertically of the carriage for moving the jaws into and out of an operative position and limited in its upward movement by the shanks, a wheel.- engaging shoe, links pivotally connected with the housing and lower end portion of said shoe, a lever pivotally connected with the housing and extending forwardly and rearwardly thereof, links pivotally connected with the forward end of said lever and upper end of said shoe, and a fulcrum carried by said carriage and engageable by the forward end portion of said lever to cause raising of the housing when the rear end portion of the lever is swung upwardly.

2. A car pusher comprising a carriage, rail engaging jaws pivoted to the carriage and having upwardly extending shank portions, a housing slidable vertically of the carriage for moving the jaws into and out of an operative position and limited in its upward movement by the shanks, a wheelengaging shoe, links pivotally connected with the housing and lower end portion of said shoe, and an operating element for the shoe and housing pivoted to the housing and having link connection with the upper end portion of the shoe, the operating element being engaged with a fulcrum element carried by said carriage when swung in one direction to impart upward movement to the housing and move the jaws to an inoperative position.

8. A car pusher comprising a carriage, rail engaging jaws pivoted to the carriage and having upwardly extending shank portions, a housing slidable vertically of the carriage, the shanks of the jaws being ex tended through the housing and the housing having elements engaging the shanks to limit upward movement of the housing and swing the jaws into and out of an operative position as the housing moves, a lever handle extending through the housing and pivotally mounted therein, a fulcrum element carried by the carriage in front of said housing, the lever having its forward end provided with a hook element for engaging the fulcrum to cause upward movement of the housing when the lever is swung upwardly, a vertically disposed wheel engaging shoe and links pivotally connected with the end portions of the shoe, the lower links being pivoted to the housing and the upper links being pivoted to the forward end of the lever.

l. The structure of claim 3 having the fulcrum in the form of a standard having a lower portion carried by the carriage and an upper portion connected with the lower portion for vertical adjustment and engageable by the hook at the forward end of the lever.

5. The structure of claim 1 having the housing provided with spaced forward and rear plates and cam rollers between the plates the jaws having their upwardly extending shanks curved longitudinally and extending through the housing between the plates and engageable with the rollers.

6. The structure of claim 1 having the housing provided with spaced forward and rear plates and cam rollers between the plates, the jaws having their upwardly extending shanks curved longitudinally and extending through the housing between the plates and engageable with the rollers, the shanks having their free end portions extended to limit upward movement of the housing.

7. The structure of claim 1 having the housing provided with spaced forward and rear plates and having vertical slots receiv ing the lever, fasteners holding the plates in spaced relation, a bearing for the lever carried by one of said fasteners, and a fork portion extending upwardly upon opposite sides of the lever, the rear plate being slidably connected with said fork.

8. The structure of claim 1 having the carriage formed as a bar for extending longitudinally of a rail, rollers carried by said bar, and a fork extending upwardly from the bar intermediate its length, the jaws being pivotally connected with opposit sides of the bar and having their shank portions extending upwardly and the housing having sliding connection with the fork provided with spaced forward and rear plates between which the jaw shanks extend.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

IRA M. ABRAM. 

